Video cassettes are in wide use.
Conventional video cassettes widely in use at the time of the present invention have high parts counts which increases the cost of the manufacturer and assembly of the cassettes. Conventional video cassettes in use at the time of the present invention are made from high impact polystyrene materials, with sufficient size and strength to physically resist impact upon dropping.
This invention employs new integrally formed video cassettes made of polypropylene, which reduce cost and increase reliability of cassettes and provide lubricating qualities not available in previous conventional materials. The inventors have provided cassettes with integral living hinges so that the dust door may be integrally formed with the cassette body.
Impacting a new polypropylene cassette through mishandling or dropping the cassette over long distances onto hard floors requires the transferring of impact loads from the relatively low mass dust door, for example, through one or more hinges to the relatively high mass body which has been loaded with reels and tape.
While the hinges are capable of transferring such force, the present invention seeks to improve hinge life and operation.